@Autistrain @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity Was the study conducted by allistics by any chance?

Lifelong nature lover & autistic.

@sentient_water

I read it yesterday and don't remember clearly. To do some sarcasm, I could answer “I assume”.

@actuallyautistic @neurodiversity

@Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity This isn't the one I'm talking about but it illustrates the same point.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140131130630.htm

@Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity Found this other one too. Where the fact that we have more neurons in our prefrontal cortex is still pathologized!

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/autism-brains-have-too-many-neurons-study-suggests/

@sentient_water @Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity

It really isn't.

Brain development comes in two phases.

From birth through childhood, the amount of neurons people have increases steadily, forming pathways based on our experiences and sensations.

But from puberty to maturity, the number of neurons decreases through a process called synaptic pruning, where the pathways get trimmed down in order to get rid of 'cross wiring' and synaptic 'dead ends'.

@sentient_water @Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity

Having more neurons, therefore, doesn't make you smarter.

It's less like having more RAM and more (but not exactly) like having the RAM connected with multiple cables, so that your RAM keeps getting conflicting or fragmented inputs because the signals don't all take the same route and don't all arrive when they're expected to.

@sentient_water @Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity

I'm sorry in advance at the sheer nastiness of this response, but I threw out my back earlier today and it hurts enough that I feel nauseous, so I'm in a terrible mood:

Oh, gee, a medical study by medical doctors medicalises things? Golly how absolutely awful.

Damn experts and their narrow field of focus! When the fire safety inspector wrote a report on my apartment block it said absolutely nothing about my interior decorating choices! 😒

@sentient_water @Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity

Again, I'm sorry, but this is unavoidable. If a group of neurologists does research into autism, they're going to focus on the neurological aspects of autism.

And that's going to involve a lot of medical jargon, because they're doctors (and/or professors) of medicine.

@robrecht @sentient_water @Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity

It is completely avoidable. Medical professionals are humans and thus have varied capabilities in terms of written communication. Many are perfectly capable of writing in clear and non-pathologizing language. Those who are not as capable can make use of support from co-authors.

Doctors are afforded enormous privilege and can choose to make use of that privilege to “do no harm” as they have pledged. When they do not, we can and should hold them accountable, by making clear the harm they cause and demanding change.

I hope your pain abates. Until you are able to communicate your ideas without intense sarcasm, you will also be causing harm. We can and should hold each other accountable.

@GTMLosAngeles @robrecht @Aerliss @Autistrain @neurodiversity I very much support co research but it needs to be equitable. I can name lots of #ActuallyAutistic psychologists, scientists & researchers who are producing incredible research but they are almost never referred to by NTs.

I was told at the start of my M.Sc. in autism that "some of the best research on autism was being done by autistic people" they then only taught us about NT researchers such as Simon Baron-Cohen who once said

"The autistic is lacking some essential part of being human.". He's the NT world expert.

@sentient_water

On SBC, I would add that in the most famous piece of research he is involved on autism, the title is a reference to monkeys... This guy is completely not worth a penny.

@GTMLosAngeles @robrecht @Aerliss @neurodiversity